Behind The Scenes: ABD 1st Photo Shoot

So I had this idea to stage this fabulous Photo Shoot at my home, from which I would incorporate many of the images into my blog. To date, I've staged two Photo Shoots at

House Piazza, (Indeed, that's what I've dubbed me and my husband's home) inspired by the launch of Allured By Design. Both shoots were staged a year apart, so you may notice in some of the photos from my 2nd Photo Shoot my face being a bit fuller and my body being even more curvaceous and fluffy than I'd like. Why is that? Because I was hungry and I ate a little too much fried catfish, gumbo, crawfish pasta and every other good New Orleans dish in that year interim! Plus, if you've never visited the city of New Orleans and aren't aware, we have a festival every freakin' month. Literally! Not just in NOLA but all throughout the state of Louisiana and at every festival there is amazing FOOD!!! If you follow my personal IG page @ladythp, trust me you'll know and understand how much of a foodie I am! I LOVE to posts and share amazing food dishes.

But, back to the Photo Shoots...So the reason both of my Photo Shoots were staged a year apart, was due to my film schedule. The first Photo & Video Shoot took place in late September 2015. Shortly after, I was offered to join the Production Team and Asst. Coordinate this new Oprah Winfrey & Ava DuVernay Episodic Drama called Queen Sugar, which would air on the OWN Network in the Fall of 2016 beginning this past September. I hope you all are tuning in, because the show is absolutely AMAZING with brilliant writing, great acting, and very character-driven stories.

As much as I had plans to turn all film jobs and offers down (at that time), so I could solely concentrate on the launch of my Design Blog...you just don't turn down an opportunity to work on an Oprah Winfrey project. You just don't! And, I must say I was definitely looking forward to the income it would bring, which basically meant my design budget for styling my home had just received a huge upgrade. How could I say no to that?!?! EXACTLY!!

So I halted plans for an early Spring 2016 launch, and shifted to a Fall 2016 launch of Allured By Design, as I was contracted to work on Queen Sugar from mid-January through mid to late-July, six months total. At the time of my first Photo Shoot, my Home Office was in transition and I was just about done with most of my furniture pieces coming in and creating this very Glam Style Home Office in our home. One of the most imperative things on me and my husband's wish list, when building our home, was incorporating a Home Office into our floor-plan. Charlie works from home quite often and I, myself was dying to have a creative space that would channel my creativity. And, I just wanted a beautiful Home Office space where I'd be surrounded by beauty and inspiration from every angle.

Crazy Wild Fact: I purchased the book (The Oprah Winfrey Show: Reflections on an American Legacy) on my top right shelf from Barnes & Noble at a steal price of $14.99 in the Bargain Finds section. Original price was $50.00. I saw this book and immediately knew I had to adorn my Home Office space with an image of Oprah Winfrey on the cover. Her words of wisdom are some of the most empowering words I've ever heard. Never in a million years would I have thought that shortly after I purchased this book, I'd receive a call to work on one of her shows. How amazing is that?!?!

When I initially set out to style my Home Office, my original idea was an office with Sex And The City decor spread throughout. YES...I'm a bonafide SATC fanatic!! I even often refer to me and my husband as #TheBigToMyCarrie because it's that serious to me ;) So, as much as Charlie usually always lets me run wild with my design ideas...he put his foot down on the SATC Home Office design. Yep, he's a HATER! His words - "Look, I'll be sharing this office space with you, so that's a NO for Carrie and her friends!" What do you mean Carrie and her friends? It's Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte. Get it RIGHT! Again, he's a HATER!

I aborted the SATC look and opted for colors my husband and I both love, as New Orleans Saints Fans...Black & Gold with White as our primary neutral color. So this became a win-win score. Oddly enough, my husband chose to work out of his Saints Man Cave more than working out of our Home Office, so once that became a reality...I pretty much unleashed all of my ideas and no longer felt the need to create a balance of a dual gender office, which was quite the challenge to begin with. I stuck with the Black, White, & Gold theme because I not only fell in love with it, but Gold is one of my absolute favorite accent colors. Believe me, you'll learn that about me soon enough. There will be a future post and video dedicated to my love for #AllThingsGOLD. Also, my husband does take some of his meetings and his conference calls in our Home Office space, so I knew he could endure the Glam look but enduring a SATC look would be a huge challenge for him - HATER!

Also, at the time of the 1st Photo Shoot, I had this modern Ivory sofa (pictured below) in our Home Office serving as our seating area until I could find the perfect Wing Back Chairs to update the space and also to make my look all the more cohesive. As beautiful and comfortable as our Ivory Sofa was, it really didn't work into our new space. It was bulky, a bit too contemporary for my current design style (Rustic Glam) and it cut off the length and the beauty of our curtains hanging behind it. It also cut off the beauty of our large and gorgeous arch window as well.

Sources:

Photo Stills By: Asolid Photography

Interior Styling By: Allured By Design

Shooting Location: House Piazza

Wardrobe: Black Monogram Collar Shirt - Banana Republic, Yellow Midi-Skirt - Shop with Tene, Shoes - Nine West

The Ivory sofa was from our previous New Orleans Shotgun home, and Charlie and I were bit attached to it. It was Microsuede, super soft and we just loved the comfort the sofa provided. I badly wanted to try and make it work into our new home. But it was time to part with it.

Design Tip: If something doesn't work into your space or provide a cohesive look with everything else. Just let it go! You cannot hold onto everything. Unless there's sentimental value or connection to a piece and it's possible to make it work, go for it. Otherwise, if it's just sheer attachment alone, updating your space with pieces that actually work and pair well with everything else will make you slowly but surely forget about the piece you just let go. Trust me, you'll be much more happy that you did in the long run.

So because I hadn't settled on Wing Back Chairs for my space at the time of my first Photo Shoot, my amazing Photographer focused more on the other angles of our Home Office and on this awesome Gallery Wall I created for our space.

I'll do a video post on our Gallery Wall and where the inspiration for it came and how I executed that look. So stay tuned for that. And, of course as a filmmaker I gave my input and ideas of focusing on exactly what the camera needed to see, nothing more or less. That's basically how we tackled both the Photo Shoot and the Video Shoot, which was all done in one day...on a football Sunday morning, at that. My husband could've killed me!! Sunday's for Charlie are strictly dedicated to watching football. But it was the only day my entire creative team could manage to give me. I had a very small and intimate team and we're all creatives with our own small businesses. Yet, we all have our stable jobs and careers that pour and invest into our creative passions.

In a later and future post I'll share more about the inspiration for the 2nd Photo Shoot and how my creative team and I went about that one. But for the most part, the 1st Photo Shoot focused solely on my Home Office. We also did a second location for the 1st Photo Shoot in one of my absolute favorite Northshore Boutiques called Niche Modern Home. In a separate post, you can view the impromptu video we shot in Niche with one of the owners. Also, in that particular post I'll elaborate on the inspiration and decision to add a 2nd Location to my 1st Photo Shoot.

So without further ado...enjoy the Behind The Scenes video of the magic we created for my 1st Photo Shoot for Allured By Design (ABD). It was fun and I'm so grateful we pulled it off.